Wednesday, 13 July 2011

Going Home

Today, Marco and I will be road tripping it to Northern Germany, in order to spend a few days with my family. And also to fetch some stray boxes that will give me some old possessions to sort through and my folks back some long-lost attic space.

We had to get up really (read: REALLY) early to catch our ferry, and when this post publishes, we will probably be somewhere afloat the English Channel. The whole trip should take about 10 hours. Here's a map of our approximate route:

I love long car journeys, always have. As a kid, I used to like watching the landscape go by, listening to the music from the car radio or my walkman and stopping for picnics en route. We invariably used to have a cool box in the trunk, filled with sandwiches, Frikadellen, potato salad, apples, and treats like chocolate bars and sodas, which my brother and I usually were not allowed to have.

As an adult, I like the soothing sensation that driving on the highway gives you, the sense of going somewhere exciting, the strange feeling of empowerment that I get from the combination of being the master of a machine (my car) and the speed. And I love to crank up the stereo and sing along to whatever comes on. Sometimes now, I even manage to get Marco singing.

I also find traffic jams quite thrilling. Weird, I know. But that's when you are treated to some A-grade people-watching. Watching people in their cars is like watching people in their homes. Because everybody (including me) feels like their car is their castle, so you always seem to gain a private peak into people's lives. You might catch drivers singing, passengers snoozing, parents fighting with their children, people moving house, naughty kids on a bus, and you have time to read all the bumper stickers.

These are a few things that are already planned for our time in Germany:

- an excursion with a horse wagon that my family gave my Opa for his birthday

- a barbecue with family and friends (an excellent way to catch up with everybody at the same time)

- a visit to the Schnitzelbüffet (all-you-can-eat escalopes, how German is that?!)

- a big grocery shop (after all, I can lug stuff home in a car this time, instead of being worried that Ryanair might decide to charge me€€€€€ for excess baggage...)

I will be back in London early next week and I'll tell you all about how it went. Best case scenario: there will be photos of me strolling along a sunny beach, eating Brötchen and having Kaffee und Kuchen. Worst case scenario: there will be photos of me clad in a rain jacket, eating Brötchen and having Kaffee und Kuchen.

P.S.: Does anybody want anything from Germany?

P.P.S.: Thanks once more to the lovely Eva, for looking after thekidscats while we are gone!

What a wonderful trip you have planned Annika! I love road trips myself. In fact, when I was backpacking around Australia, N.Z. and Europe years ago, rather than go by train, I always used a bus. And in America and Italy, a car and motorcycle is the way to go....it's awesome. Ever see Thelma and Louise...?